Tap!
by Salamence Rider
Summary: A one-shot bit of fluff that goes with a picture my friend drew. GinoxOC. What can a simple tap on the cheek really mean?


**So this is a one-shot to a picture my friend drew, you can find it on deviant art {dot} com under "Bianca Asplund". Hope you like it and hope you review!**

I pulled my black spandex one piece on and glanced at the bed, now only occupied by the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg. My jeans went on next, and as I tugged on the zipper, Gino stirred.

"Going already?" he mumbled, giving me a goofy grin.

"I've got places to go. I'll be back later, though." I replied pulling my shirt on over my head.

"Anywhere important?"

I laughed. "School, Gino? Remember?"

His turn to laugh. "I forgot you did that."

"Why? Because my brother wants me to get a normal education?"

"No, just because it's different."

I walked over to him as he propped himself up on one arm. I sprawled out on the bed next to him and he stroked my short white hair. "Gino, I don't have time for this; I have a class at 10."

"So? That doesn't mean you can't spend a little more time with me." He began to twirl a lock of my hair around his finger.

I moved closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, spinning one of his three braids. "That depends on how long 'a little' is."

He placed a light kiss on the tip of my pale nose. "Not long. Ten, fifteen minutes. Tops."

"Ten max. I still have to get back to my dorm, take a shower, change into my uniform, grab all of my stuff for class, and catch up on my gossip all before homeroom."

Another kiss, this time on the cheek. "Please?"

I began to rub his leg with my foot through the sheets and blanket. "I really can't stay." He gave me the saddest look ever, but his eyes were too bright to pull it off. I sighed and kissed his forehead. "I promise I'll come back right after gym."

"You can't just skip?"

"Not with Villetta as my teacher. She watches us like hawks; and if she finds out that we've been at school and skipped her class, it gets even worse."

His hand moved from my hair to my neck, massaging it gently, slowly working out a giant knot that had been building. "What has you so tense?" He murmured putting his head close to my ear.

"Finals; balancing life; drama. You know, all of that normal teenager stuff."

He pondered that for a minute. "No, I don't know what you're talking about."

I moved to kiss the underside of his jaw. "Lucky you." I whispered as I motioned to get up. "But now I really do have to leave."

He kissed my forehead one last time. "I guess there's no stopping you. Have a good day, Bianca." He said to me as I stood and pulled my tennis shoes on. "Do you need a ride? I can get someone to drop you off…"

"I think I can manage. You have a good day too, Gino. Don't work too hard." I joked. I grabbed my jacket, bag, and gloves and walked outside. I took a left outside of the Weinberg Estate to head back towards Ashford Academy.

_These last few weeks have been weird._ I thought to myself as I walked. _With Lelouch's memory gone, it's like I never existed to him. I went to talk to him the other day, and he didn't have a clue who I was; I was nearly crushed. After I realized that he didn't know me, I ran. That's when I found Gino and I found someone to believe in again. He didn't know what I did when I wasn't with him, that I was secretly trying to get Zero's memory back. I'd go back to Gino around five o'clock every evening, but before that I planned for nearly 3 hours with Kallen and the other Black Knights that were still around. Today would be no different. The second we got done with gym Kallen and I would meet up in my dorm room to plan, since both of us sneaking out wouldn't be the best plan that was ever invented. I always told Gino that I was doing some extra study work, which wasn't exactly untrue; a little homework would get done. After a few hours of scheming, she would relay what was happening to the Knights and I'd go to Gino's place, most likely to spend the night, only to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. It was a wonder that I didn't have more knots than I already did. I always wore my Black Knight uniform under my clothes, just in case Kallen or C.C. needed me to do something. Gino just thought that I wore it for kicks and that I found just lounging around in spandex comfortable, which I did. Good thing he didn't ask too many questions._

I ran the last 10 minutes to school and hurried into my dorm. I set out my bag before grabbing my uniform and shower stuff and running into the bathroom. I slowed at the bathroom, letting the hot water calm me down and loosen me up. I rushed to pull my uniform on and fluff my wet hair before grabbing my bag and running out to my homeroom class.

The day seemed never ending. I wasn't sure if I'd get through it, but I soon made it to the end of the day and crashed on my bed just as Kallen came in.

"So what's on the agenda for this afternoon?" Kallen asked grabbing a seat at my desk.

"I think that the chess plan is the best one so far." I said from the bed.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, it'd be really easy for us to get people on the inside. And the more we have the better."

"Will you be there?"

"I don't know. If C.C. thinks it would help, then I'd show up in Archie. But if not, I'd keep laying low." I said with a shrug as I dug my calculus book out of my bag and opened it. "But you do realize that you are the key part to this plan, right?"

"Bianca, I'm the key part to all of these plans. Can't we figure one out that I'm NOT the main piece of this puzzle?"

I sighed. "Kallen, we've been through this: there are only a select few of us that know who Zero really is. Because of that, it's going to take someone he knew and trusted to help get near him. It's a proven fact that when people lose their memories that they still recognized people that meant something to them."

"So why aren't you doing this again? I mean, you ARE his girlfriend."

"Was." I replied with a sigh. "I was his girlfriend. He doesn't even talk to me anymore. I mean, I talk to Suzaku more than Lelouch now; it can't get much worse than that."

Kallen laughed. "Good point. So he thinks that you don't remember?"

I nodded. "He still believes that I'm as clueless as Lelouch. And it's important that it stays that way." I stated firmly. "So did you understand today's calc homework?"

"Yeah, it's just a formula; all you need to do is memorize it."

I laughed. "Great, that's all I need; another thing to memorize…"

Kallen and I passed the next hour and a half by tossing ideas around and studying. Once 4:25 hit, I said something. "Hey Kallen, didn't you mention that you wanted to get to the meeting early?"

She glanced at my clock. "Yeah, I did. I guess I'll be going then. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll be here. Have a good meeting."

"Yeah, have a good evening." She packed up and walked out. I sighed and stood. I hurried to my closet, grabbed my duffle bag and began to stuff various items in it for tonight: pajamas, toiletries, and my school uniform. I made the decision that I'd just start changing at Gino's; that way I could stay a little bit later. I pulled on my uniform, added black jeans and a grey tee, stuffed my cell phone in my back pocket, and slid tennis shoes on before grabbing my bags and running out the door. I began to leave school grounds, but didn't make it far before running into trouble.

"Bianca, wait up!" I heard Suzaku call to me.

I turned around and put a simple smile on my face. "Hey Suzaku, how's everything going?" I said cheerily.

"Where are you going? Don't you usually have swim practice right now?"

I shook my head. "We just had nationals. Coach said she'd give us a few weeks off to catch up on life."

"So where are you going then?"

"A friend's house." I said, continuing to walk.

Suzaku smirked and easily kept pace with me. Stupid military training. "Really? Anyone I know?"

"Depends on how often you get out."

"Bianca, you've never kept anything from me before, so the fact that you obviously are now tells me that I know the person. Just tell me who it is."

I sighed and gave a totally false chuckle, still trying to keep up my charade. "Fine Suzaku. I've been going over to Gino Weinberg's house, happy now?" I spilled.

I noticed his grin grow. Suzaku had a hand in Gino and I meeting. "You should have just told me."

I looped arms with him as we walked. "I know; but this isn't something I want going public."

"What, that you're spending your nights with the Knight of Three?"

I shoved him playfully with my unburdened shoulder. "Shut up, Suzaku!"

"My lips are sealed. Do you want me to walk you over there?"

"No, I'm fine without your escort."

"What, we can't just walk as friends?"

"Suzaku, I'm giving you a hard time. I'd love for you to walk me to the gate, but no further."

"Good." We continued to chat about whatever. I loved being around Suzaku, but at times like this, when my thoughts were bouncing around from school to Black Knights to Gino to Lelouch and then back school and the cycle would repeat, conversation was nearly impossible for me. Lucky for me, Suzaku gave us plenty of random stuff to talk about.

It took us nearly half-an-hour, but we eventually reached the gate to the Weinberg estate. "Well, this is me." I said.

"Yep. Have fun, and have a great evening." He replied slyly.

I gave him a playful shove as I buzzed the gate. "Someday Suzaku…"

"Bianca, you couldn't hurt me no matter how hard you tried."

"Wanna bet?" I stated, my eyes flashing. "I didn't get these muscles by knitting."

Suzaku took a step back. "Whoa, Bianca, don't do anything you'd regret."

The gate slid open enough for a person to walk through and I began to walk forward. "Trust me, Suzaku; I won't regret it…that much." I winked as the gate slid shut and I heard his cell phone go off. "I'll talk to you later." I said waving as I ran off. I watched him nod out of the corner of my eye as I reached the front door and knocked. The Weinberg's butler, William, opened the door, saw it was me, and let me in.

"Mr. Weinberg has stepped out for a while, but should be back soon." William said as he took my coat. "But he said for you to go ahead and make yourself comfortable anywhere."

"Okay. When he gets back, tell him I'll be in his room."

"I will do that, Miss Asplund."

"Thank you." I continued up a flight of stairs and down the hall into Gino's bedroom.

The first thing I did was set my bags next to a small work table that was in a corner (not that he ever used it). Next, I used the facilities across the hall. Upon my return, I grabbed my MP3 player out of my bag, pressed the headphones into my ears, and cranked up some meaningless rock music. I bobbed my head in time as I changed into my spandex and pulled out my calc homework and began to scribble at the problems as the music continued to pound. An hour passed and I brought out my chemistry homework. Hour number two came around and I put it back. As I entered the third hour, around 7:15, Elaine came and knocked on the door. I pressed the pause button on the music as she walked in.

"Miss Asplund? Would you like some dinner brought up? The cook made steak and potatoes."

"That'd be nice Elaine, thank you." I said as she began to walk away. "Wait, Elaine," she stopped, "where did Gino go?"

"A Knight of Rounds meeting."

"Did he say how long he'd be?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Asplund, he didn't. I'll bring your dinner up in a few minutes, okay?"

"That'd be great, Elaine, thank you so much."

She left and closed the door behind her. I sighed and cleared off the table. "What's taking him so long?" I mumbled to myself.

Another knock at the door. "I have your dinner Miss Asplund." Elaine said.

"Thank you Elaine. Where would you like the dishes when I'm done?" I asked as she placed a covered plate on the table in front of me.

"Just outside the door would be fine. I hope you have a good evening, Miss Asplund." Elaine walked out.

I sighed, uncovered the plate, picked up my utensils, and began to cut my steak. I quickly gave up and began to stab at my potato. Epic fail. I growled at the plate before sighing in defeat. I re-covered the plate of food and moved to lie on top of Gino's bed. I closed my eyes and basked in the silence until my stomach growled in protest of smelling food and not getting any of it. (**A.N. I'm getting hungry just thinking about this and its 10:30 at night.) **I finally conceded defeat and went back over to the plate and uncovered it for the second time. I took up my fork and knife again and began to saw at the slab of meat in front of me. I didn't know what was with me, but I couldn't get myself to stay focus on the task at hand: the hand-eye coordination required to cut a piece of meat. I closed my eyes, looked down, and sighed when I felt someone reached above me and take the utensils from my hands.

"It's easier to cut things with your head up." I heard an all-too familiar say from behind me. I opened my eyes to see Gino leaning over me, cutting my steak and potatoes into small pieces.

"You know that I can do that myself, right?"

"Again, not easy to do with your head down."

"Gino put the fork and knife down."

"Why?" He said stabbing a cube of steak with my fork and popping it into his mouth. "I haven't had dinner yet either."

I laughed at his comment. "Gino, why are you eating my steak? Elaine would bring one up for you too." I said reaching for my fork in Gino's hand. He held it just out of my reach. "Gino…" I whined, adding a pout to boot. "Please?"

He quickly reached around me to spear another piece of steak. Stupid pilot reflexes. I waited for him to place it in his mouth once again, only to have it hovering in front of my mouth. "I thought that we could just share this steak and save the cook the trouble."

I rolled my eyes at him before moving my mouth over the fork and bit down, chewing the steak, then swallowing. "Thank you."

He stabbed a cube of potato and popped it in his mouth. "You're welcome."

This continued until the plate was empty. "That was nice."

"Consider it my 'I'm sorry' for being late." He said leaning down next to me, his left arm draped around my shoulder.

I kissed his cheek and leaned into him. "And consider that my 'You're forgiven'."

"Why aren't you smiling?"

I gave him a weak half-smile, still kind of sad about all that going on. "Who's not smiling?"

Gino pressed one gloved finger to my cheek and I blushed with a small smile as he said, "Tap." I looked at him and his big goofy grin and bright eyes. Somehow, knowing that he was here, next to me, and knowing that he'd do anything to keep me safe, made me relax for the first time since Lelouch lost his memory. Gino and I stayed up late into the night, simply talking. Once midnight passed and we finally decided to go to sleep, it took me seconds to fall asleep in Gino's arms.

**Okay, so the ending was suckish, but that was the best I could do…at 11:32 at night. Please review!!!**


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